[blackshoe]

Your club has fourteen and a half tables today, and only two pairs need to be stationary. Your players expect to be done in three hours, and they would like to play 26 or 27 boards if possible. You have at least two sets of pre-duplicated boards, and can quickly come up with one or maybe two more (the duplicating machine is in the next room). You have a number of options for the movement. What do you select?

Note: two winner movements are extremely common in this club. One winner movements are rare.

[Siegmund]

I choose the 15-table Web with 15NS as the phantom so nobody plays the boards out of order. Only special instruction needed is to tell 1NS to not bother carrying their boards to the top table.

If I have 2 sets of boards available, I'd pretty much never go back to the 14- to 18-table single Mitchells with not everyone playing every board. But I will be interested to hear what other exotic options people espouse.

[blackshoe]

Siegmund, on 2015-June-11, 19:09, said:

I choose the 15-table Web with 15NS as the phantom so nobody plays the boards out of order. Only special instruction needed is to tell 1NS to not bother carrying their boards to the top table.

If I have 2 sets of boards available, I'd pretty much never go back to the 14- to 18-table single Mitchells with not everyone playing every board. But I will be interested to hear what other exotic options people espouse.

Me too.

[jeffford76]

blackshoe, on 2015-June-11, 18:40, said:

Your players expect to be done in three hours, and they would like to play 26 or 27 boards if possible.

If you can run 13 rounds in 3 hours, your pace of play is much faster than around here. We put 15 minutes on the clock for 2-board rounds and occasionally add a minute or two if a large part of the room is behind.

And I agree on the web. It's been a few years now since I've played in a club game that didn't have everyone playing the same boards, except for missing boards via sitouts. I don't want to go back!

[gordontd]

blackshoe, on 2015-June-11, 22:42, said:

Me too.

Me three.

[blackshoe]

jeffford76, on 2015-June-12, 01:13, said:

If you can run 13 rounds in 3 hours, your pace of play is much faster than around here. We put 15 minutes on the clock for 2-board rounds and occasionally add a minute or two if a large part of the room is behind.

And I agree on the web. It's been a few years now since I've played in a club game that didn't have everyone playing the same boards, except for missing boards via sitouts. I don't want to go back!

We do run the web, and did on this occassion. I was just curious what others do.

Typical session here: twelve o'clock start time. At five after (sometimes later) the director starts passing out bridgepads. People are still standing around talking. Several people complain that "the bridgepads aren't working" (because he hasn't started the server yet.) So he starts the server. Then he passes out the boards. The instant boards are on the table, people start playing. After the boards are passed out, the director starts the clock (13 minutes for a two board round). The clock gives a 3 minute warning "don't start any new boards". Faster people finish their round with four or five minutes to go on the clock. They leave their table. If the next table is available they sit down and start to play. If there are no boards they interrupt the table boards are supposed to come from and ask for a board. If a pair is slow, and is still playing when the round is called, the next players call the TD and complain that these slow folks started play after the three minute warning. Sometimes that's even true. Sometime around 3:15, the last players in the last round finish up. There are no late plays. "Your opponents have already left". Boards not played are "not played" in the scoring program. If you were entitled to Avg+, too bad. If you point out to the TD that "not played" is illegal in this circumstance, he insists vehemently that it is legal, with an undertone of "STFU".

Remind me again why I play this game?

Okay, rant over. Thanks for the answers to my original question. Sorry about the rant. Well, a little, anyway.